In recent years, Candace Owens has become a shining black star in conservative punditry. She’s accrued over 2.6 million followers on Twitter, just recently published a book and is the founder of Blexit, an organization aimed at persuading Black voters to leave the democratic party. While Candace Owens may be a favorite amongst white conservatives -- don’t be fooled -- she’s no black conservative because her rhetoric is inherently anti-Black.
For starters, Owens is one of many Black political grifters who describes Black voters as living on “the Democratic plantation.” This rhetoric is emotionally charged and anti-Black, for two main reasons: it insults Black voters by implying that they are not capable of looking at policy and deciding what’s best for them, and it does nothing to hold the Republican party accountable for the reasons why Black voters distance themselves.
If Owens’ rhetoric was based in any political history, she would know that Black Americans have changed their political affiliation over time depending on the party platform. It’s true that an overwhelming amount of Black Americans are Democrats, but once upon a time, they were Republicans.
In the aftermath of the Civil War, the Republican party was progressive and contributed to the end of slavery. That, however, would switch in the aftermath of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, where Lyndon B. Johnson pursued legislation that sought equal protection for Black Americans and codified voting rights.
Many of the Dixie-Crats, southern Democrats who supported segregation, would switch to the Republican party as a result, forming our modern political coalitions. So it’s not that Black Americans are “slaves to the Democrats”, but it’s that they’re simply voting according to their interests.
Second, while Candace Owens has a massive platform, she refuses to criticize the radically racist Republicans over their deliberate attacks on Black Americans.
It’s easy to bring up the 1994 crime bill that Joe Biden signed, but it’s intellectually dishonest to not draw the same ire to the Trump’s rollbacks of Obama-era police reforms, his dismissal of police brutality, his jubilation at the fact that many Black Americans didn’t vote in 2016 and his party’s current agenda of voter suppression.
Ultimately, the problem with Owens is that she and other so-called “Black conservatives” like Daniel Cameron, Tim Scott, Burgess Owens and Larry Elder are refusing to see the big picture. Yes, it’s true that the Democratic party has often disappointed black voters but that won’t be changed by cozying up to a political party whose members say that “slavery was a necessary evil” and have been indifferent to a pandemic that’s disproportionately harmed black families.
It’s because of these reasons that no one should be fooled by Candace Owens. She’s not just trying to lead black voters from Democrats. She’s trying to lead them off a cliff.
Adonis Fryer is a sophomore studying communication at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Do you agree? Tell Adonis by emailing him at af414219@ohio.edu.
